Chief cut law-enforcement teeth at St. John's Hospital

By Marie Donovan , Sun Correspondent

Updated:
03/29/2013 09:23:12 AM EDT

Kenneth Lavallee, far right, with unidentified members of the Manchester, N.H. Police Department, circa 1980.
The hospital was a great place for us to get introduced to law enforcement.
D­eputy P­olice S­uperintendent A­rthur R­yan ( COURTESY PHOTO )

LOWELL -- When he looks around the Lowell Police Department, Ken Lavallee sees quite a number of people he goes way back with.

Long before he ever became chief, Lavallee worked with colleagues like Deputy Superintendent Arthur Ryan, Lts. Tim Crowley, Frank Rouine and Paul LaFerriere, and Sgts. Thomas Fleming and Stephen Morrill, doing security for the former St. John's Hospital.

The native Lowellian, who recently announced his plans to retire effective today, also worked at St. John's with Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, whom he succeeded as Lowell chief, and Chelmsford Police Chief Jim Murphy.

"The experience prepared me very well for a career in law enforcement," said Lavallee, 57, who served with the LPD for more than 29 years, including six-plus years as its superintendent (one as interim before getting the permanent job).

"I've thoroughly enjoyed this. It's been an honor and a privilege," he added.

Lavallee still runs into Davis at regular meetings of the Massachusetts major-city police chiefs.

"Ed and I talk often and meet often," Lavallee said. "This entire city could be very proud of the work he's done in Boston."

Davis returned the compliment.

"Ken was always a great partner, somebody you could depend on," Davis said. "He was very popular with the staff at St. John's. Even back then, he was so well regarded. He showed incredible leadership qualities.

"We both started when we were at Northeastern together -- he was the one who told me about the St. John's job," Davis added.

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"Occasionally after work, we would co-opt some of the doctors and nurses to play softball with us in Dracut, then end up at the Speare House for a drink afterward. I can also recall he was a good softball player."

At St. John's, which later became a part of Saints Medical Center and, more recently, the Lowell General Hospital Saints Campus, Lavallee and his cohorts paid their dues working all shifts, including overnights.

"The hospital was a great place for us to get introduced to law enforcement," Ryan said, noting that he and Lavallee were hired together to work for the LPD. "I worked with Ken close to five years at the hospital, and I've literally worked with him my entire police career. We're good friends."

While earning a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Northeastern University and holding one co-op job as a Westford Police Department dispatcher, Lavallee first began working at St. John's in 1974 as a security officer. In 1978, he moved on to work as a patrolman, first with the Carlisle Police Department and later with the Manchester, N.H., Police Department, before returning to St. John's to accept a position as security director in July 1980.

"It was kind of another co-op job for me," he said. "St. John's was, at the time, kind of a proving ground for young men and women who wanted to enter law enforcement. It had a busy daytime emergency room, where I had the opportunity to interact with the public and police officers."

He recalled one time he helped pursue a criminal suspect on foot and eventually captured the person, resulting in an award from the Lowell Patrolman's Union. Another time, a prisoner from the Billerica House of Correction, who had gone to the hospital under the auspices of seeking medical treatment, briefly escaped from custody with the aid of armed gunmen, who pointed a gun at a corrections officer. After escaping in an automobile, the prisoner was eventually recaptured.

Lavallee also recalled working at the hospital during the Blizzard of '78.

"I worked several days nonstop, transporting hospital employees to and from the hospital and maintaining a safe environment," he said.

"Kenny was really conscientious. He never really went out and painted the town red," said Chuck Ouellette, a civilian who works in the dispatch center at the LPD and who also worked with Lavallee and Davis at St. John's.

Ouellette noted that when he once went to Lavallee's house to watch a football game, Lavallee's personal space there was just as meticulously organized as his office at the Police Department.

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